Category: Lifestyle Challenges
Why Do Some People Prosper Materially While Others Do Not? (Part 3)
This unique gift from God is the least understood and possibly the most important for us to grasp. The Bible tells us that there are actually three powers God gives us regarding wealth accumulation. Unless He gives us all three, our lives will be unhappy, out of balance, and self-absorbed—no matter how prosperous we are.
Sandcastles
The house I am suggesting that we need to be keeping is not the one made of wood and bricks that contains our stuff, but the one made of flesh and blood that houses us and the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 3:16 (ESV), Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
Stewarding Our Relationships
The house I am suggesting that we need to be keeping is not the one made of wood and bricks that contains our stuff, but the one made of flesh and blood that houses us and the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 3:16 (ESV), Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
When Counting is Wrong
The issue of ownership is the central demand of the gospel. Are we willing to surrender everything, give it all up, return back to the rightful Owner everything we have claimed to be our own? When we find ourselves tempted to count what we own, we must remember, it doesn’t take very long to count nothing! Do you count your stuff as the owner or as His steward?
What’s On Your Mind?
The real spiritual battle is in the mind. The fact is, by the time our sin manifests itself in actions, it is already too late—the battle is already over. We have lost before we have even committed the sin. Jesus reveals this profound spiritual reality in Matthew 5 when He tells us that sin does not begin with the act of murder, but rather with the mere thoughts of anger.
The Grace of Receiving
For many, the grace of receiving can prove to be more difficult to learn than the grace of giving. In fact, it seems for those who have developed their grace of giving, they often struggle with demonstrating the grace of receiving. In other words, the more gracious the giver, the less gracious the receiver.
Slave or Master
Our material possessions are our modern-day slaves of which we are to be the rulers. So who is the servant and who is the master in your world? The answer may not be as clear or as obvious as we might like to think.
Pressed Down and Shaken Together
Give, and it will be given to you… (Luke 6:38). I have been in the church all my life and have only heard this verse quoted in reference to one topic—giving money to the church or to God. May I suggest this verse has nothing to do either of those?
Manna in the Wilderness
Everything about God’s miraculous mealtime plan for His people seems to fly squarely in the face of our well-accepted American version of Christianity. Contemplate how this might apply to how we steward the life and resources God has entrusted to us. There are three simple insights this story reveals regarding how God wants to be in relationship with His people.
Living on Less
“You can live on less when you have more to live for.” Notice that this statement is not describing a forced “belt-tightening” when economic circumstances compel one to reduce a preferred lifestyle. It is talking about someone who voluntarily chooses to reduce his/her current lifestyle—a willing reduction.